


The Snows of Late Winter

by flyingonfeatherlesswings



Series: A Different Kind of Destiny Verse [2]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Celts, F/M, Flashbacks, M/M, Mentions of Violence, Mpreg, Victorian era, celtic people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-20 10:44:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9487733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flyingonfeatherlesswings/pseuds/flyingonfeatherlesswings
Summary: An Ancient One-centric off-shoot from the my story A Different Kind of Destiny, takes place shortly after the epilogue. You don't need to read a DKoD to understand.The Ancient One comes to visit Mordo and Stephen and their growing family. While there memories she thought she had laid to rest resurface.





	

It was a day in early spring and the residents of the estate of Voltarr were just awakening. The cook was first up, pulling out the necessary materials to get breakfast started. The family was expecting a guest this morning, so she made sure to prepare an extra serving.

Outside in the garden, the first sprigs of spring were bursting from the ground that shortly had been cold and frozen. The scenic area was disturbed by a burning ring of fire bursting forth from the air. Through the ring stepped a woman, wearing a rather masculine dress and a wide-brimmed hat over her bald hat. She closed the portal behind her with a graceful flick of the wrist and took off towards the front door, leaves crunching beneath her high boots.

She was swiftly welcomed into home by the butler and no sooner had she offered the man her hat than a cry rang through the front foyer.

“Granny!”

The Ancient One turned as a little girl ran down the stairs, latching onto the woman’s leg in a tight embrace.

“Granny! Happy!”

“Well hello, Lucy, I can see you are very happy!” said the Ancient One, stroking the curly head currently snuggling into her skirts.

The toddler pulled back, looking up at her surrogate grandmother with big eyes, “Granny? Present?”

“Now Lucretia, what did I say about you demanding gifts from our guests, it’s not very becoming for a young lady,” said the girl’s alpha father, Baron Karl Mordo, as he came down the stairs after his little girl.

“Well Mordo, it’s not like she’s wrong,” said the Ancient One as she pulled a small orb from her pocket. The woman bent down to the girl’s height and unlatched the clasp on the orb and from it popped a glittering light, suspended in the air. The light twirled around the girl, twisting and taking several shapes including a group of butterflies who dissolved into a small snow storm that blew around the little girl. All the while, Lucy was giggling like mad and trying to grab at the light which easily slipped through her fingers. The Ancient One hit a button on the side of the orb, and the light formed into a hand which gave the girl a little wave before zipping back into the orb. The gift was then handed off to Mordo and the girl tried to grab the orb from her alpha father but he swiftly tucked the gift away in his pocket.

The girl started to whine but Mordo quickly redirected her attention, “Now Lucretia are you hungry?”

The oncoming sniffles were stopped as the little girl nodded.

“Then let’s go and see what is for breakfast why don’t we?”

As the trio moved to the dining room, the Ancient One came up alongside her pupil. “And where is your mate this fine morning? Will he not be joining us?”

Mordo shot her an apologetic look, “The baby kept Stephen up for most of the night. This isn’t the first night that it has happened so I am letting him sleep in today.” Lucy, at hearing the name of her omega parent, bounced and let out a, “Mama sleepy!”

‘ _You shouldn’t let him do that_ ,’ whispered a voice in the Ancient One’s mind that was not her own.

The woman was taken aback by a long gone memory and stopped in the middle of the hallway. Mordo stopped, Lucy’s hand in his, and looked back at her. “He can join us for tea I am sure, I thought maybe we could take a walk around the grounds before he wakes.” He studied his shaken master for a moment, “Ancient One, if I may ask, is something amiss?”

At her student’s question, the woman shook herself out of her stupor and smiled assuredly him. “Oh it’s nothing Mordo, just I think I am finding myself a bit famished. It has been a while since I’ve been able to enjoy an indulgent American breakfast.”

“Well I will be sure to indulge you.”

After they had all sat down at the dining room table and had been served the hearty food, Mordo focused on cutting up Lucy’s food and explaining the names of each item, trying to get her to repeat. “Now what’s this Lucretia?” “Bacon!” “Good job!” “And this?”

As they continued into their morning lesson, the Ancient One stared down at the black tea that had been served to her along a bowl of sweetened oats and plate of cooked lentils. The cook had felt disturbed at serving her such meagre offerings, at least in her mind, but Mordo had insisted that no food containing any animal products would be served to his master. A very foreign concept to an American cook. To the Ancient One though, the offerings were a feast compared to the modest bowl of rice she ate every morning at Kamar Taj.

‘ _You’ll spoil him. He’ll get lazy and that’s no good with a baby on the way_.’ The voice rang out in her head again and her body jerked, sloshing some tea onto the embroidered tablecloth.

“Ancient One, are you alright?” asked Mordo, jumping to his feet and coming around to the woman. Mordo called for a servant to clean up the mess and replace the table cloth. The three had basically been finished eating so the interruption wasn’t too much of a bother.

“I am sorry, Mordo. When you have lived as long as me, sometimes memories are triggered at the smallest of things.” She didn’t mention that normally the memories that come to mind aren’t _that_ old. She thought her memories that were that old, were no longer hers, that the person those things had happened to was long gone. After all, people were not meant to continue existing, experiences were not meant to keep building on each other over and over for an infinity. And yet, the memories were coming to her seemed like they happened yesterday, the voice was so fresh in her mind.

She smiled at her student, “I think that walk would do some good.”

They bundled themselves up, though not so heavily seeing as how the cold was lessening. Lucy ran around the garden in a light coat and a knitted hat, while the Ancient One had put her hat back on. They stepped into the midmorning sunlight and made their way down the country lane around the house.

They made idle conversation, talking about the preparations for the baby. This pregnancy had been more difficult on Stephen than Lucy’s but Mordo was not worried for his mate’s health. Stephen had regular doctor’s check-ups and hadn’t been prescribed bedrest, which was very common especially with male omegas whose pregnancies tended to be harder on them.

Lucy would run up to the Ancient One periodically, dragging her “granny” off to see one curiosity or another. Normally it turned out to be something as mundane as a pine cone but the Ancient One always made sure to act amazed at the little girl’s discoveries.

As they walked along, Mordo brought up the idea of the preferred gender of the unborn baby. “I’d be delighted with a boy, but a little sister for Lucretia would be nice. Two little girls, running hand in hand, playing dress up and paper dolls. It would be splendid.”

The Ancient One was going to remind Mordo that a son could also play dress up and with paper dolls, but then another voice, different from the one that had been plaguing her rang through her mind.

‘ _Imagine, a little girl running along behind you! And with your hair! Oh if only the gods were so kind._ ’

This voice shook the Ancient One to her core, she didn’t even think he remembered his voice and to hear it so clearly, she was forced to stop and catch her breath. Though there was no wind she started to shake. “Caiside,” she managed to gasp out between quivering lips.

Luckily, this time Mordo did not see his master’s distress and carried on after Lucy. The Ancient One was finally able to compose herself and called after her pupil, “Mordo, I think I will return to the house.”

Mordo began to turn back, Lucy’s hand in his, “Oh we can go back—“

“No no, please continue, let that little one get out her energy, I just felt some exhaustion come over me. I will go and see if our Stephen has awoke yet.”

Mordo reluctantly agreed, seeing as Lucy needed to run off some more energy before her naptime, and the Ancient One returned to the estate. She repeated some mantras in her head as she walked, warding off the unwelcome memories. The butler was surprised to see her back so soon and once again took her hat. The Ancient One wasted no time in heading to the one room in the house that was like a sanctuary to the inhabitants: the library.

She knew her students took much comfort being surrounded by the old tomes and the warm fireplace. She sank down in Stephen’s armchair with her head in her hands and tried to compose herself with deep breaths. After a few minutes the panic subsided and frantic heart slowed.

Having regained her calm the Ancient One stood up gracefully, moving around to the books. Mordo had obtained a set of ancient Persian texts from Wong that she had thought sounded interesting and she knew that would occupy her mind.

As she looked for the books, she came upon a low bookshelf, independent from the rest of the tall, stately selves. The volumes on this shelf looked very welcoming, with the slim spines adorned with bright gold letters. The books were much loved and while it was obviously that someone, most likely Mordo, had tried to keep them orderly, the collection looked chaotic compared to the other shelves. It was Lucy’s shelf, filled with the books from Mordo’s childhood and the gifts from all of their friends. Most of them had come from Wong, who always visited Voltarr weighed down with the weight of books he brought for the laughing little girl. Many of them weren’t in English, which greatly amused Stephen, who joked that everyone was so keen they raised a polyglot but no one could decide exactly which languages. But since Mordo spoke fluent French and German they could start there.

The Ancient One pulled out a volume of children’s poetry and read a few of the simple rhymes aloud. She laughed at the simple tales within the nursery rhymes and snapped the book shut. As she was putting it back though, her hand stilled when her eyes caught another volume. Emblazoned on the side in big black block letters was the title: The History of the Celtic Peoples.

The Ancient One knew that she probably shouldn’t further invoke her past, but she had looked at volumes like this before and they had only just amused her. They were horrifically incorrect and in no way reminded her of her native people. Everything was exaggerated for younger readers. It wouldn’t hurt to a take a look.

She flipped though the volume, laughing softly at the illustrations of the Celtic warriors, with the monstrous blue face paint and their completely untrue to life helmets. There were a few pages on omegas which made her roll her eyes. The creators of the book at painted the Celtic omegas as sheepish and frail creatures, when in reality their omegas had just been as fierce as any of their warriors. Actually many of their omegas had been warriors, but popular society of the current day was quick to hide that fact away, didn’t want any omegas getting ideas into their heads.

She was about to move on and put the book away when one drawing caught her eye. It was captioned CELTIC OMEGA MALE and it featured a young man wearing plaid with a fur cloak around his shoulders, holding a bundled-up baby. The artist hadn’t included many details but they had given the young man a mop of unruly brown curls and two dark blue eyes, a look of slight mirth forever frozen on his face.

‘ _I’m cold, why don’t you come over here and heat me up_?’

The Ancient One let on a sharp cry and she let the book slip throw the hands, landing on the floor with a soft thump. The woman sunk to the floor, her head once more in her hands. The dam holding back the memories had been straining all day, and now broke dramatically. She was hit with wave after wave with pieces of the past.

_She was on a ship, docked outside their small village, and she was tending the nets. She would be going out with the other alphas today, to go fishing. Their ships were small and could not go far, the land still in sight. But being on the ships still thrilled her and she was excited to see how big their catch would be. They had been lucky the last few days, and the girl was proud that some of her suggestions about where to cast their nets had been listened to and had paid off. The other alphas who were all older than her had clapped her on the shoulder while they brought in the weighed down nets._

_A voice rang out calling her name and she stood up to answer, her hand coming up to move her long curly red hair out of her eyes. She was met with the image of an older omega, her mother, walking towards her, her long skirts blowing in the winds._

_“Good day, mother,” called out the girl._

_“Where’s that omega of yours?” asked the omega, not wasting any time._

_“He’s sleeping, I suspect.”_

_“Sleeping? The sun is halfway to its zenith in the sky, why is he still sleeping?” demanded the omega sharply._

_“The baby bothered him all night, I think he had a foot stuck in his ribs poor thing, so I didn’t really have the heart to get him up this morning. He’s been so exhausted lately.”_

_“Well carrying is exhausting work, one we omega must take up with stride. He’s manipulates you though, you shouldn’t let him do that.”_

_“I’m sure one morning of chores missed will not soil the respected title of omega,” replied the girl._

_“Well morning is almost done, so you best go get him. You’ll spoil him. He’ll get lazy and that’s no good with a baby on the way. It just gets harder once the babe is here, and it’ll be keeping you up all night too.”_

_“Okay,” said the girl acquiescing. She dropped the nets and stepped off the boat, walking up to her mother. “I will go and wake Caiside so that he may help you and I will firmly remind him of his duties as my omega.” Her mother was significantly shorter than her and she put her hands on her mother’s shoulders, looking down into her eyes. “Will that please you?”_

_“Well yes, unless you are being lewd, I know you can’t keep your hands off of him, young lady.”_

_The girl threw her head back, red curls bouncing in the air. “No, no time for that! You need help—what is you need help with?”_

_“Mushroom picking.”_

_“Yes carnal pleasures must wait, the tribe cannot go without mushrooms!”_

_“Oh hush you!” said the woman, turning and smacking the girl on the backside as she walked off past her._

_The girl could tell her mother actually did like the girl’s omega, her parents had chosen him for her after all. Her parents were actually the leaders of the village, her alpha father was chief and the pressures of leadership was the main reason the girl’s mother didn’t want her omega lazing about. Appearances were at stake, didn’t want anyone thinking he was getting special treatment. And even though she had an older alpha sister and brother, there was always the possibility that the girl may become chief and so the girl’s mother was training the girl’s omega to take her place just in case._

_The girl had not immediately taken to Caiside at first. She had had her eyes set on a female omega in her own tribe, a petite girl with rosy cheeks dusted with freckles and appealing curves. So she was quite annoyed to hear that her parents had matched her with a nearby tribe’s chief’s omega son. She had heard rumors from the alphas who went to trade with them that the boy was sickly and thin, not at all what she was looking for in an omega._

_But when she met Caiside during a feast about a month before they were to be joined, all of her reservations were swept away. Caiside was shy, but she was instantly taken in by his beauty, she had never seen such blue eyes before. And the she wanted to run her fingers through that curly hair so badly. On top of his looks, he turned out to have a wry sense of humor, whispering into her ear all night and telling her about the other members of his tribe. He joked about the arguments that his parents, an alpha female and an omega female had and she had let slip that she was sure they were argue less when they were wed. His face had gotten a rush of blood that made him look extra adorable. The girl would’ve taken him home that night if she could._

_But they were wed in time for Caiside’s heat and a month later she was woken to him retching outside of their hut. Her mother was very pleased with how quickly they had procreated._

_It was a short walk to her home from the docks, though the girl didn’t want to walk with much haste, wanting her omega to get as much sleep as possible. But eventually she made it to the door and moved the tapestry aside slipping into the thatch-roofed hut that she shared with her mate and her siblings and their families. Her alpha brother and sister were out hunting and their mates were busy with their own chores and children, so the hut was empty save for Caiside, who she found under their furs still._

_She sat down next to the omega, cupping his cheek in her hand. She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead and whispered into his ear, “Come my love, no sleeping the day away.”_

_Caiside was a light sleeper and he groggily blinked his clear blue eyes open staring at his mate before he realized that there was too much light in the hut and his eyes opened wide. “What time is it?”_

_“You missed breakfast, but you woke up in time for lunch.”_

_The omega threw an arm over his eyes and groaned. “Your mother will have my head! The mushroom picking!”_

_The girl rubbed her hand up and down his belly, pleased when her hand was not met with any kicks, meaning the baby was sleeping, “She’ll probably wait until you give me an heir though, which could mean your end could be soon, though this one could be an omega.”_

_“It’s an alpha, an alpha female.”_

_“Did the druid elder tell you that?”_

_“I’ve always thought maybe if I asked the gods enough, they would surely favor my request. After all I asked for a kind and good looking alpha and they delivered.” He pushed himself to a sitting position with a grunt before laying a kiss on her lips. “I just think I fancy the idea of a little you running around. Imagine, a little girl running along behind you! And with your hair! Oh if only the gods were so kind.”_

_“Well omega, alpha, male, female, between the two of us this child will have curly hair. Too bad the name Caiside is already taken.”_

_The omega shrugged, “It fit.”_

_She helped her omega get up and get ready. Eventually the morning ministrations awoke their baby who started to kick in earnest. “Well good morning little one. You finally let your mama sleep I see,” said the girl, rubbing circles into her mate’s swollen belly. Caiside was about her mother’s height and she liked tucking him into her arms with his head under her chin. That wasn’t really possible to do right now, but having their baby between them felt nice._

_They walked out the door into the late winter air. The girl had made sure that her omega was wearing plenty of furs and wouldn’t catch a chill. Beside her Caiside put his hands on the small of his back and looked up and let out a gasp. “Snow!”_

_They were Celts, their winters were harsh, snow was not foreign to them at all. And yet everytime they got a snowfall, Caiside treated it like it was the first time he had ever seen one, standing in awe as the flakes drifted down. When the flakes were large, big fat, fluffy things, he could stand in the doorway, entranced until his mate came and tugged him inside to sit at the inner hearth, a gentle arm around his waist urging him away. During the first snowfall months ago he had joined the children in playing in it, but of course he was much too large now._

_In these moments the girl took much more pleasure looking at her mate’s awestruck face than the snow, which she thought more of as a nuisance. And this moment was no different. She let him stare until she took his hand in hers and lead him down the path, where she knew her mother would be waiting._

_It would be a few weeks later, she would leave for a hunting trip with some other alphas, giving him a kiss and on the lips and the belly, and promising she would bring him back a deer, so that he could eat his fill and be strong from the oncoming birth.. She didn’t know that was the last time she would see him. Their dream of a family only ever being that, a dream._

_Because that’s when the Romans came. That’s when they took everything she loved._

_She never found out why they did what they did. They could’ve been a rogue group, pillaging the villages, they could’ve been a passing battalion that stopped in their village for the night and felt cheated or insulted in some way. She just knows that when they returned her village, the buildings were still smoldering, and the bodies of her people were strewn about, killed by the fire and arrows. She found her parents laid out on the ground, and one of the other alphas entered the wreck of her hut and came out with a solemn nod, confirming her worst fears. She fell to her knees and screamed to the heavens, cursing their gods._

_The other alphas had lost their families also of course, but they moved onto other tribes and settled, not listening to the raving of their dead chieftain’s daughter, who spoke of insane ideas of revenge. The Romans were too strong, and they had heard what had happened to Boudica, who had been defeated by the Romans, and her force had been great._

_The girl ended up retreating to the highlands, reportedly going mad and shaving off her red curly hair. The knife had left her scalp covered in scars. After a few years, tales of the mad girl stopped and everyone assumed she had died._

But she hadn’t died. She was still here. The girl had grown into a woman who had discovered, hidden away in the highlands of what is now called Scotland, a power. And she met a group of people, much more powerful than the druids, who could wield that power. And she had grown strong and had learned much. And she was still here. In the library of two of her students, tears running down her face.

Her thinking was broken by a soft cough and she turned to see who had caught her in such a moment of weakness. She had not cried over Caiside in well over a millennium, she thought she had cried all of the tears she had for him.

She found Stephen, wrapped up in a robe over his pajamas, looking at her sheepishly, not sure if he should invade her privacy. “Hello, um sad book?” asked Stephen trying to lighten the mood, lamely.

The Ancient One stood up, and accepted the offered handkerchief from the heavily pregnant omega. She cleaned her face, hoping that her eyes didn’t look too watery and leaned over and grabbed the book off of the floor before Stephen could struggle to do so himself. Before she could put it on the shelf though, Stephen caught a glimpse of the cover.

“Oh! Yes, we got that for Lucy to explain where her granny had come from. We were going to ask you to correct some of it, but maybe it’s not a good topic?”

The Ancient One let a finger trace the letters on the cover for a moment before she shook her head and looked up at the omega, “No, I think I should talk about my people more. It’s not fair to keep them locked up in the past.”

Stephen rubbed at his belly, wincing when he got kicked particularly hard. He obviously had something to ask, and he kept looking at her and then looking away.

“Stephen Strange Mordo, go ahead and ask your question.”

Stephen looked up at her, “You said you had an omega, what was he like?”

The Ancient One smiled, her tears gone, and hugged the book close to her chest.

“His name was Caiside. He was kind, and funny, and had brilliant curly hair. He loved the snow. And he was mine.”

**Author's Note:**

> Why is everything I write so SOPPY? I wish more people were writing in this fandom so I could just be like "the one who writes almost unbearable fluff" haha. Maybe one day. 
> 
> A thousand apologies if I just completely did everything wrong about the Celts. I researched a little, but it was all rather confusing considering just how many Celtic peoples there were. I think Caiside may be a girl's name, but I couldn't resist using it seeing as how it meant curly-haired. 
> 
> As always if you liked the story, throw me a comment if you want. Encouragement keeps me writing.
> 
> Listening for this story is Winter by Daughter.
> 
> And here's a pic of Tilda that goes with how young TAO looked, just imagine her hair more wavy/curly: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/4f/69/de/4f69deb3198e5b0ffd2e859108c7eb9e.jpg


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